Tao of Joy Every Day

I've been following the Tea House forums of Derek Lin's for a number of years now, and in the past bought every book he's put out. Last week I got this new one, Tao of Joy Every Day. Lovely book of Tao daily affirmations. So far it's a pretty fantastic book.

Here's the reading for today. I read this after a night of tossing and turning trying to decide what to do about my weight, since the food plan I've been following isn't giving me the results originally promised (The typical promise of 4 or more pounds a week. Oh, wait a minute, that's only in the beginning, that most people should expect a pound or 2 IF they stick to the more restricted version and get an hour of aerobic exercise daily AND they have no medical condition such as hypothyroid that would affect their metabolism) and I was thinking of switching to an even more restricted food plan, one that allows you to eat about a thousand calories of green and yellow veggies a day with a bare minimum of starchy foods. Sure, I would be hungry all the time, and yeah, I would be spending most of my days and nights in the bathroom, but won't it be worth it to finally lose this weight?

What idiotic thinking!!

Then I read this and decided to just take a deep breath and relax:


Day 360

The Great Vessel

Chapter 41 of the Tao Te Ching says: "The great vessel is late in completion." The meaning of this is the same as our familiar expression "Rome was not built in a day." A big, worthwhile goal takes time to accomplish and cannot be rushed. If you push yourself too hard, you will end up with not a great vessel but a leaky container.

This is why Tao cultivators do not stress themselves out. It is quite all right if they are not as successful as they want to be. They never stop taking meaningful steps toward the goal, but their attitude is one of relaxed optimism. This is contrary to our success-obsessed society, where people compare themselves with one another and feel upset of they think they are lagging behind.

In life, we see evidence of leaky containers all the time. They are the hard-charging, aggressive personalities who keep pushing themselves for the bigger paycheck at the expense of health, family, relationships, and peace of mind. By the time they realize the frantic rush does not work, their container of life is already broken into pieces. By then, it is too late.


The Tao Today

Heed the words of Lao Tzu and avoid the mistakes of others. Do not beat yourself up if you get to where you want to be more slowly than your peers. The important thing in life is not doing things quickly, but doing things correctly. Relax and take all the time you need to complete the great vessel of your own creation.